Jodorowsky's Dune

[kelber at mindspring.com]

Solaris by Stanislaw Lem makes the point that when we say we're looking for intelligence (out there, in the Universe), what we really mean is human intelligence - a very different proposition.

The TV series Battlestar Galactica (not the cheesy 70s series, but the 21st century reconception)is about the most satisfying sci-fi I've encountered in a long time. And it certainly has the most audacious Dylan reference ever. Maybe TV is ultimately a better medium to construct an alternate world in - a lot more time to set the rules and boundaries of said world.

Laura


-----Original Message-----
>From: Joseph Tracy <brook7 at sover.net>
>Sent: Mar 26, 2014 11:56 AM
>To: P-list List <pynchon-l at waste.org>
>Subject: Re: Jodorowsky's Dune
>
>I enjoyed Contact though it was far from 2001 in film pleasure. Even more carefully scientific than 2001 in many ways. One of the problems with that approach is people go to movies more for drama than mind expansion. 
>
> Another problem in all creative fiction is imagining an alien mind that really is plausible but outside our dramatic formulas. Anyone know great books that do this? 
>
>As far as prescient SF style  drama I thought Minority Report was good and Sleep Dealer . For pure fun The Fifth Element.   
>On Mar 24, 2014, at 3:03 PM, <kelber at mindspring.com> wrote:
>
>> I'd like to imagine an alternate history where neither Jodorowsky's Dune (which, the documentary makes the case, was hugely influential on such projects as Star Wars and Alien) or any of the Star Wars movies were made. Because I think they helped to warp the definition of sci-fi movies as falling solely in the realm of action-adventure-western-horror genre flicks. Heavy on franchises: Star Wars, Terminator, Alien, Iron Man, Men In Black,etc. Or stand-alone flicks like Oblivion or Avatar. I'm not saying that none of these have sci-fi elements, but their basic goal is cheesy entertainment, as opposed to profundity. 
>> 
>> Jodorwsky's an interesting character, but his profundities are more in the realm of New Age-y mysticism than scientific ruminations. I won't argue with anyone who saw the Star Wars movies at a formative age and loves them, because they're a good telling of the Hero Myth, I guess. Unusual Dali-esque visuals have a place in film, as do standard-issue heros and villains, and gruesome torture scenes (present to varying degrees in pop sci-fi), but they're less interesting (to me, if not to mass audiences, alas)than, say, Tarkovsky's Stalker, where pretty much nothing happens and the final visual is very minimalist.
>> 
>> 
>> What a great movies might have been made had 2001: A Space Odyssey been the sci-fi template that everyone wanted to copy? There've been few genuinely cerebral and/or "hard" sci-fi movies made - movie that are speculative about humanity's place in the universe, our relationship to technology, etc. Blade Runner is one, but, personally, I don't think it holds up that well. 12 Monkeys? This comes closest for me to entertaining, thought-provoking and "science-y" to be classified as good sci-fi. Others: Pi, Tarkovsky's Solaris and Stalker (Soderbergh aside, Hollywood isn't chomping at the bit to make these kinds of movies). Moon? Small, but at least speculative. The small is a problem, though. I want something as grand as 2001, but it's unlikely to materialize. I'm really looking forward to Interstellar (this year!), but I'm steeling myself for disappointment. Inception fell short, but the other Nolan (Jonathan) has more of a hand in Interstellar, so maybe ...
>> 
>> 
>> -----Original Message-----
>> 
>> From: Dave Monroe 
>> 
>> it occurred to me recently that the alternate history where J's Dune actually exists also contains the David Lynch Return of the Jedi.
>> 
>> http://www.slashfilm.com/david-lynch-talks-about-not-directing-return-of-the-jedi/ 
>> 
>> -
>> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l
>
>-
>Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l

-
Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?list=pynchon-l